Momentum
by purplefirestarter
Summary: Ever wonder what happened during Jim and Pam's date at the end of Season 3? Well, this is my interpretation of the date that jump started them from friends to lovers. R&R!


My first Office fanfic!! I wrote this after I saw the season 3 finale when I had to wait all summer for the fourth season. Oh, and this fanfic is written along to the song _Momentum_ (hence name of story) by the Hush Sound.

Also, I've never been to Scraton, despite the fact that I live not two hours from said city. So I don't know what it looks like. But I know where _I_live in Pennsylvania, it floods quite easily. My basement looks like a lake when it rains a lot! So if anyone lives in Scraton and you're reading this, please bear with me...!

I don't own the office or the beautiful couple known as Jim Halpert and Pam Beesley.

((and Jessie, this one's for you!))

* * *

"I seriously can't believe that Michael got back with Jan!" Jim exclaimed beside Pam. 

"I know! _I_ can't believe it was Jan's job you were interviewing for! Talk about a coincidence!" the petite strawberry blond beside him replied, smiling brightly.

They were out on their date. A real date now, unlike the "date" they had had last year. This time, they both felt and knew that this was real. After all they had been through in the past year, they finally knew that they could finally build something off of their friendship.

"Where exactly are you taking me?" Pam asked, turning her blue eyes up at Jim, who was half a head taller than she was.

"Ah, _that_ is a surprise," Jim answered mysteriously, smiling crookedly.

"What if I want to know?" Pam inquired.

"Too bad."

Pam stuck her tongue out at him and he raised an eyebrow.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Shut up, Halpert."

The sun was starting to set in the downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania area. The twilight hit the sidewalks and the buildings, creating a warm array of colors all around them. It was the perfect mood for a night like this as Pam and Jim walked side by side. One was wearing a pair of slacks and suit jacket that he had worn to his job interview in New York and the other wearing a pink blouse (with the first two buttons undone) and a shorter skirt than she had worn to the office.

Pam sighed as she looked up at the sky, the spring sun setting. She realized that summer was only around the corner.

_You are the dark ocean bottom_

_And I am the fast sinking anchor_

_Should I fall for you?_

_Should I fall for you?_

That was before Jim suddenly stopped dead and reached out to grab her arm, pulling her back with him. Pam stumbled a little but Jim's hand on her arm helped her keep her balance.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking confusingly up at his face. There was one worry line above his brow, darkening his usually bright hazel eyes. He motioned to a large white truck that was passing by the intersection that Pam had been about to walk right through.

"Oh!" Pam gasped, her body freezing as though already hit.

"I know that this is a _fascinating_ town but that's a pretty difficult truck to miss entirely," Jim joked, smirking despite his racing heart. If he had been just a second—one little second—later he could've lost Pam. The thought was unbearable to swallow down.

"I guess I spaced out a little bit," she admitted sheepishly.

"I saw." He still smiled. "C'mon, we're almost there."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her gently across the street so she wouldn't stop and wait for another truck. Both Pam and Jim secretly hoped that the other couldn't feel their racing heartbeats through their palms.

Once they crossed the street, Jim held onto to Pam's hand for only a moment longer before releasing it and pulling open a nearby door for her. Pam saw that it was a restaurant called La Bistro Italia. She smiled at Jim before stepping inside.

She had never been here; in fact she had never even seen this place before. However, she liked it a lot already. It was small and warm and very romantic. Wait a second? _Romantic_? Jim was taking her to a _romantic_ restaurant? She looked up at him but his hazel eyes were fixed on the surroundings as she had been.

The hostess approached them, smiling and tucking a strand of her bleached hair behind her ear. "How many?" she asked. It was easy to spot though that Jim and Pam were the only two standing waiting.

"Two, please," Jim answered.

The hostess nodded and picked up two menus. She turned and motioned for them to follow her. They looked up at each other before moving to follow after her, weaving around chairs and tables and people. Pam had to grab Jim's arm so as not to knock over someone's dinner plate it was so small. The hostess stopped at the back corner of the restaurant, by a window and set the menus down.

"Your server will be right with you," she said politely, leaving them alone.

Pam and Jim silently took their seats opposite one another at the tiny table. Jim found it hard to believe that he was really on a date with Pam. This time last night he had been out in Manhattan having dinner with Karen.

"This is nice," Pam said nicely, looking around. "How did you find this place?"

She grimaced at the question and Jim saw this. She regretted asking instantly, scared that he had taken Karen here before her. Jim read her face quite easily and her expression broke his heart.

"I saw this not that long ago, actually," he answered.

Pam just nodded; hurt still twisted on her face.

"Pam, I promise I haven't taken Karen here." He smiled sadly. "I know much better than to do that."

Pam nearly sighed with relief and Jim felt his heart loosen in his chest. He didn't like that look that Pam would get sometimes. He had seen it one too many times when he would hug or kiss Karen in front of her. It looked as though someone was twisting a knife in her stomach. Even though he knew she did her best to hide it, he knew her better than that. She had been hurt the whole time he had been with Karen. But the only reason he dated Karen was because Pam had broken his heart when she decided to marry Roy.

_You are the scar on my tissue_

_That I show all of my new friends_

_Should I show you me?_

_Should I show you me?_

"So…how did you find it in the first place?" Pam asked, desperate to change the subject.

"I walked past it a couple weeks ago. I never really thought of taking Karen here… I don't think she would like it. But…I wanted to take you here."

"That works," she nodded. "Good find."

"I mean you as in _you_, Pam."

Her face flushed as their waiter came around, setting two empty wineglasses on the table. Pam willed her blush to try and go away.

"Hello, I'm Henry and I'll be your server. Would you like a complementary glass of our white wine?"

Pam and Jim threw each other a glance before Jim looked back at the waiter.

"Yes, we both would please."

"Know what each other are thinking by looking at them. You two must be fairly close, huh?"

Jim looked at Pam, whose cheeks were still faintly pink and smiled gently. "Yeah, we are."

Pam found the wineglass in front of her extremely interesting.

Henry laughed before leaving them to decide what they were going to eat for dinner. They both picked their menus up; Pam put her face down to hide her diminishing blush.

As she looked, she felt something tap her one leg that was safely crossed over the other. She looked up at Jim, who was staring at his menu like it was the most interesting thing in the world, his eyebrows raised innocently. Pam tried her best to keep a straight face at how cute he looked.

"We're in a nice restaurant, Jim," she whispered in a fake chiding voice.

"What's your point?" he teased, capturing her gaze in his. He was glad to get her mind off of what the waiter had said to them. "What are you going to get to eat?" he asked while he still held her eyes.

"Uh…" Pam blinked and her eyes found her menu again. "The chicken penne…"

"You and your pasta." Jim shook his head reminiscently.

"What about you?"

"Steak," he answered simply. "And dinner's on me tonight, by the way."

"Oh, oh no. Are you sure? You don't have to do that," she said hurriedly.

"It's on me. It's the least I can do."

Pam bit her lip and nodded once.

Their waiter came and went and their dinners did the same, as did the wine they were steadily drinking. Pam more than Jim since he was responsible for driving his precious cargo home.

As Pam picked at the remains of her pasta, a thought popped into her head. She didn't want to ask it, but she knew she wanted to know.

"So, how did your interview turn out? Did they offer you a job?"

"I told him I couldn't accept the position."

Pam's eyes shot wide open and she gaped at the man in front of her. "_Why?_ You could have had a job at _Corporate_! Do you have any idea how much money they would pay you?"

"None of that matters. I don't care about the money, I never did."

"Well then, what changed your mind?" Pam was interested in why in the world he would turn down an opportunity like this.

Jim didn't take his eyes off the woman before him. "A note from a friend."

He watched the blood rush to her cheeks again and she looked down at what was left of her food. Her cute blush matched her pink blouse perfectly.

"And Karen?" She picked her head up. Her heart shrunk back, waiting for the pain to hit her again.

"Karen more than likely isn't coming back here. It might be uncomfortable."

"Oh," Pam said in realization. "Oh, totally."

"Pam," Jim murmured. His tone caught Pam off guard. He hadn't spoken so gently and lovingly to her since one night last year. A night that she revisited when she lay alone at night, when she knew it was forbidden.

Jim knew that she still believed he wanted Karen. But that wasn't true. He'd wanted Pam all along, all this time he'd cared about her so much, more than words or thoughts could comprehend. He wanted to prove to her that it was her that he wanted and her alone.

"I've missed you too," he breathed finally.

_All we need is a little bit of momentum_

_Breakdown these walls that we've built around ourselves_

_All we need is a little bit of inertia_

_Breakdown and tell breakdown and tell_

They sat in a comfortable silence for a long while until a splattering sound hit their ears. They looked out the window next to them and saw that it was _pouring_ rain. They were unable to see anything but blurs out said window.

"Funny," Pam said. "The forecast didn't say it was going to rain."

"What, are you Scranton's new weather woman now?" Jim taunted.

"Oh, maybe I am," she replied with a fake scowl. "Do you have an umbrella?"

"Nope. And I assume you don't have one since you didn't know it was going to rain."

"Wait a sec," Pam said skeptically, looking at his face. "Did _you_?"

"How could I know that, Beesley?" he asked innocently.

"You're lying!" she laughed. "You _knew_ it was going to rain and you didn't bring an umbrella _and_ you parked like seven blocks away!"

"I thought we would beat it," he defended.

"No," she shook her head. "Coming from your devious mind, this had to have been planned."

"Ah, you know me too well, Pam," Jim said proudly.

"So then, what was your plan?" she asked, her eyes darkening playfully.

"I didn't make it rain," he said, darting answering.

"You're something else, Jim Halpert," she sighed.

"That's what I here for," he said smoothly.

Pam looked down at the table, flattered beyond belief and embarrassed too. Roy had never really done anything like force them to get stuck out in the rain, which was very, very romantic. Jim had obviously given this some serious thought and they all made Pam want this night to last forever.

_That you are the rain on the fire_

_Deep in the trees when no one was looking_

_Should I speak of this?_

_Should I speak of this?_

It was still pouring buckets—well now more like tubs—of water by the time Jim and Pam left the restaurant about twenty minutes later. Pam shuddered and huddled closer to Jim's side as cool raindrops hit her scalp and slid down the top of her head.

At first, Jim only walked with his arm wrapped loosely around Pam's waist, but when he felt her shiver he moved behind her. Pam looked over her shoulder at him as he pulled his suit jacket up and over both their heads to keep them dry from the rain for the time being.

Pam smiled nervously and brushed her bangs out of her face as she and Jim started walking again down the street together. She could feel him bending down over her to keep her protected and she could feel his chest pressed against her back.

They didn't speak, but words seemed to be forgotten as they walked slower than they had coming this way. Both were perfectly content to walk as slow as possible in order to maintain the level of closeness they had reached. They merely longed for the night to last forever.

Then, almost as quickly as Jim had put the jacket over their heads, Pam felt his chin rest gently on her shoulder. She could feel his soft breathing on her neck and shoulder and his heart beating against her. It felt as though she was in heaven. That was the only explanation. She and Jim had died and were walking through heaven. It amazed her how much she cared about this man. What she would do to have him… She wanted to tell him so badly that she loved him, but she was afraid that he might push her away like she had done to him last year. She didn't think she could survive what he had.

Jim moved his face slowly so he could breathe in Pam's soft scent at her jaw line. He gently nuzzled a path from her jaw down to where her pulse was. Then he settled his face in the crook between her neck and shoulder, keeping his head there for a long while. For a brief moment, he felt Pam rest her head on top of his in a sign of mutual affection. He couldn't believe that all of this was really happening. He hadn't known that he could be so happy just walking with her alone. If he _had_ known, he would've never left her in the office on casino night.

_You are a mirage in the distance_

_That defies the heat of the desert_

_Should I believe in you?_

_Should I believe in you?_

Finally, Jim's chin left Pam's shoulder. But, he pressed his body to her more snuggly now, molding his body to hers, never wanting to lose contact. Pam took in a deep breath before reaching up to help Jim keep his jacket over their heads. His fingers found hers and they interlocked together as though made for each other.

"Could you just imagine if someone from the office saw us?" Jim asked.

Pam laughed. "I don't want to think of that. Especially Dwight."

"Or Kelly," Jim added.

"Ryan broke up with her, did you know that?" Pam asked, turning her head slightly to get a better look at his face.

"I heard," Jim responded, bending down to touch his nose to hers. "She really liked him, didn't she?"

"But he never really liked her," Pam finished. Jim squeezed her hands.

"I'm so sorry, Pam," he whispered, barely audible.

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" she inquired. She was afraid that they were getting too close and he was uncomfortable. She tried to pull her hands away but Jim held them tightly.

"Everything," he began in her ear. "For leaving you alone in the office on casino night, for going to Stamford, for dating Karen, for ruining our friendship, for hurting you in ways that I can't even imagine…"

"It's fine," she insisted, her eyes blurring. "You were happy with Karen. I didn't see anything wrong with it."

"I thought I was happy…but…well, I didn't realize how happy I could be until I met you. I don't regret what I did that night a long time ago. And I've…I've been thinking about you almost every day that I was in Stamford, no matter what. And I didn't have the…the _courage_ to say something. To tell you that I missed you, which I did. But…I just want _you_ to be happy."

Pam smiled and bit her lip. "That was exactly what I was saying when you interrupted my confessional in the conference room today."

"I felt like an idiot doing that but I wanted to ask you so badly," he admitted.

"You are an idiot," Pam teased.

"Oh, thanks."

_These rules are made to break and these walls are built to fall_

_These rules are made to break us_

_These rules are made to break and these walls are built to fall_

_These rules are made to break us all_

Pam laughed to herself, feeling happiness spread in her veins despite her racing heartbeat. She was calm to Jim on the outside, but inside she was so nervous and shaken from all of tonight's events. She could've sworn that her heartbeat wasn't the only one she could hear too.

Suddenly, unaware of the ground below her for she felt too elated to feel much of anything besides Jim, Pam tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and stumbled forward. Jim hadn't been prepared for her sudden clumsy moment so he toppled forward too, his lanky figure towering over Pam.

Her palms hit the ground first to break her fall then followed by her knees. They scraped the concrete a little but not enough to break the skin. But half a second later, Jim came crashing down on top of her, pushing her closer to the ground and making the palms of her hands and her knees slide deeper into the sidewalk, breaking the skin. They then lay there for a moment together in a heap of wet clothes and hair.

Jim groaned and looked down to see Pam lying underneath him, trying to wiggle out to sit up. He immediately got off of her, afraid that he had crushed her small frame. At once though, when Pam started getting up and he saw that she was all right, he starting laughing.

Pam pushed herself up beside him and looked directly at Jim, her eyes glowing. Jim noticed her one cheek was covered in a blotch of mud. He reached out and affectionately wiped it away for her. Her cheeks went red again.

"You okay, klutzilla?" he growled playfully.

"I'm fine," she snickered. "That was a doozey."

"Yeah, it really was, Beesley. Only you could pull something like that." Jim reached for his suit jacket and placed it over his shoulder.

He stood up and reached down to offer his hand to help her up. She took it and he yanked her up easily as though pulling up air. She winced a little when her bleeding knees locked, the skin folding together. She didn't know that she had cut them that badly when Jim had fallen on top of her.

"You sure you're okay?" Jim asked, looking at her scraped knees.

"Oh! Oh yeah, I'm totally fine," she answered, not wanting him to worry.

He nodded and they kept on walking beside each other. Jim was walking much closer to Pam than he had on their way there however. Not that Pam minded. All she wanted was for him to stay by her side for the rest of her life.

They walked about another half a block but stopped when they reached an extremely flooded intersection. It was about shin deep on Jim, knee deep for Pam.

Pam inwardly cursed Scranton's ability to flood ridiculously fast. Well, it was most of Pennsylvania that flooded quickly to begin with. She was wearing a pair of inch high heels and that water didn't look heel-friendly. That and the water would clearly irritate her scratched up knees.

Jim looked down at her and saw her expression. She looked like she was in pain again, but he felt better knowing that he wasn't the one causing her pain—it was the flooded intersection.

"C'mere," he said warmly, bending down to take Pam in his arms bridal-style. Pam's eyes went wide open that the fact that she was in Jim's arms but she welcomed it anyway. Her arms wrapped around his neck and pressed herself closer to him as though that would help him not to drop her.

She watched him trudge through the water. It was dark and looked like it would eat her up if she were to put her foot in it. She clutched herself to Jim and looked at the side of his face. He was smiling the crooked smile that he would often smile at her during those long workdays.

He didn't put her down when they reached the other side of the street.

"You can put me down, Jim," Pam reminded him.

"No, I can't," Jim said gently but with finality. "I don't want to let go of you ever again."

_All we need is a little bit of momentum_

_Breakdown these walls that we've built around ourselves_

_All we need is a little bit of inertia _

_Breakdown and tell breakdown and tell_

She didn't argue with him, in fact, she didn't say anything in response to his little confession. Only she smiled and Jim saw this, making his heart flutter.

After he had walked for a little bit longer, Pam had the urge to rest her head on his shoulder. At first, she wasn't sure if she would be able to, but the feeling of resting in Jim's arms was making her tired. Finally, she gave up and rested her head in the comforting crook between his shoulder and neck, like he had done with her a few minutes ago.

Jim smiled—he couldn't help himself—and turned his head to kiss Pam's forehead with the softest of pressure. The gesture made Pam shut her eyes.

Then Jim watched her fall asleep quietly in his arms. Once she was soundly asleep, he rested his cheek on top of her forehead and sighed.

She didn't realize that she had fallen asleep but she must've for her eyelids were slowly opening as Jim was setting her down in the passenger seat of his sedan. She wondered briefly how he had opened the door while carrying her.

"Did I fall asleep?" she asked.

"Only for a few minutes," he told her. He softly shut her door and walked around to the driver's side.

Pam had originally thought that Jim had been ridiculous by parking nearly seven blocks away from the restaurant, but now she couldn't have been happier. She couldn't remember (because it had never happened) the last time Roy had carried her and she had fallen asleep in protective arms.

"Where now?" she questioned. "Are you taking me home?"

"That was the game plan," Jim nodded as he started his car. It purred to life.

"Are you coming with me?" she asked, hope detected in her voice.

"Do you want me to?" His eyes found hers, searching.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Then I'm coming with you."

Pam smiled softly up at him, her face heating up again for the millionth time. Her heart was in her throat but she managed to swallow it down.

"I love you," she murmured.

Jim processed her words in less than a second before he smiled wide and bright. He reached across the center console of his car to take one of Pam's hot cheeks in his palm; he brought her face to his and kissed her. They both instantly felt the difference between this kiss and the one they had shared so many months ago. The love was still there—that would never change—and the passion too. It was the longing; the pining for the other that was gone. Jim need not worry about Roy and Pam needn't worry about Karen. They would belong to each and no one else from now on.

Jim pulled away from Pam only to rest his forehead against hers. He saw her starry blue eyes and her wet bangs falling into her face. She was beautiful.

"I love you too, Pam. And I always will," he said tenderly.

_These rules are made to break and these walls are built to fall_

_These rules are made to break us all_

He pulled away from her only to begin to drive off, the rain still pouring heavily on his windshield. They were both silent for a minute but Pam needed to say something. Her hand found his on the steering wheel and he gave it a gentle squeeze as he had done before.

"I'm glad you finally came back, Jim."

* * *

There it is. (I know it was a little long, but it was too short to make it a chapter story...) :) And for all those fellow office freaks, Pam's last line is in reference to the episode "Beach Games" in which Pam has her freakout and Jim later talks to her about it when she's soaking her feet in the lake. I thought it was cute to have a little allude to that episode, since it was one of my favorite Pam moments. 

REVIEW plz


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